As the faltering economy continues to impact all aspects of our lives, people are naturally looking for financial shortcuts and ways to save money. But weddings, which are intended as once-in-a-lifetime events, may not be the place to go cheap.

Further, as a Port Orchard businesswoman points out, part of planning a wedding is to provide the desired value within a specific budget.

And if you cut too many corners, you could regret it in the future.

“People will always want to get married,” said Desiree Steffens, owner of Make it Special Wedding and Event Planning. “They will always want to have parties and celebrate occasions. But today, they may have smaller weddings, inviting fewer people or serving hors oeuvres instead of having a full sit-down dinner.”

Steffens, a retired administrator, grew up in Port Orchard and moved back 12 years ago. Now in the third year of business, she is tied into the community and often provides good deals to people with whom she has a personal connection.

On the other hand, she doesn’t need to offer any special deals in order to provide special value. People who are looking only at the cost will make bad decisions and not realize that their time is worth money.

So if someone has an upper limit of, say, $5,000 they might be better off hiring Steffens to plan the event and allowing her a certain cut than to plan everything themselves.

It will certainly be less stressful.

The process is similar to consultants in a variety of different fields. Steffens meets with a client to determine what they want and what they can spend. She then brokers a deal that results in a happy, affordable event.

“I recently planned an entire wedding for $1,000,” she said. “We did a lot of creative things to save money.”

Food, flowers and cake are areas with wide offerings for a variety of prices, so there is leeway if the client doesn’t insist on brand names.

Even so, there are some places where scrimping may be unwise.

One is photography. Even if it seems that everyone in the world has a digital camera or camcorder, it takes a professional to capture the moment.

With this in mind, Steffens has several local skilled photographers she can recommend.

“If you really want good pictures, you need to work with a professional,” she said. “All the other digital shots that people take are just a bonus.”

Steffens wasn’t really looking for a job when she backed into professional party planning. She leveraged the skills learned while working for the Las Vegas United Way planning large events, then worked to develop relationships and a reputation for reliability.

She found that being a wedding planner isn’t a very glorious job, since it’s up to her to accomplish all the tasks that no one else will do, or have thought of.

She is often at the top of a ladder hanging crepe paper from the ceiling or running to the store to get a vital missing item.

And for an added convenience, Steffens is licensed to officiate at weddings. As it stands, one often-cut corner can be the involvement of the church.

Even if a number of weddings are less formal, Steffens said there are some things that never change. One tradition is the rule that the groom should not see the bride on the wedding day, even if they are already living together.

Many “unconventional” couples still insist on a wedding toast and a ceremonial first dance. Tossing the bouquet and the garter belt to those bachelors present has also survived.

“A lot of the traditions that began in the 1940s and 1950s are still around,” Steffens said. “Brides still want the long white dresses and for the groom to be in a tux. So not everything has changed.”